Unix and Linux Filesystem hierarchy system
Linux
uses single rooted, inverted tree like file system hierarchy
Have you wondered why certain programs are located under /home, /bin, or /sbin, or /usr/bin, or /usr/sbin?
For example, less command is located under /usr/bin directory. Why not /bin, or /sbin, or /usr/sbin? What is the different between all these directories?
In this article, let us review the Linux filesystem structures and understand the meaning of individual high-level directories.
/
|
This
is top level directory
It
is parent directory for all other directories
It
is called as ROOT directory
It
is represented by forward slash(/)
Like
in C:\ of windows
|
/root
|
It
is home directory for root user (super user)
It
provide working environment for root user
C:\Documents
and settings\Administrator
|
/home
|
It
is home directory for other users
It
provide working environment for other users (other than root)
C:\Documents
and settings\username
|
/boot
|
It
contains bootable files for linux
Like
vmlinuz (kernel) .. ntoskrnl
Initrd
(INITial Ram Disk) and
GRUB
(Grub Unified Boot Loader)… boot.ini, ntldr
|
/etc
|
It
contains all configuration files
Like /etc/passwd…. Ntoskrnl
/etc/resolv.conf.. Preferred DNS
/etc/dhcpd.conf… DHCP server
C:\windows\system32\dirvers\
|
/usr
|
By
default softwares are installed in /usr directory
(UNIX
Sharable Resources)
C:\program
files
|
/opt
|
It
is optional directory for /usr
It
contains third party softwares
C:\program
files
|
/bin
|
It
contains commands used by all users
(Binary
files)
|
/sbin
|
It
contains commands used by only Super User (root)
(Super
user’s binary files)
|
/dev
|
It
contains device files
Like
/dev/hda ….for hard disk
/dev/cd
rom …. For cd rom
Similar
to device manager of windows
|
/proc
|
It
contains process files
Its
contents are not permanent, they keep changing
It
is also called as Virtual Directory
Its
file contains useful information used by os
Like /proc/meminfo …information of RAM/SWAP
/proc/cpuinfo … information of CPU
|
/var
|
It
is containing variable data like mails, log files
|
/mnt
|
It
is default mount point for any partition
It
is empty by default
|
/media
|
It
contains all of removable media like CD-ROM, Pen drive
|
/lib
|
It
contains library files which are used by os
It
is similar to dll files of windows
Library
files in Linux are SO (shared object) files
|
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